The Leather Working Group (LWG) is celebrating World Rainforest Day on June 22 and continues to work with its NGO partner organisations, the National Wildlife Fund and the World Wildlife Fund (NWF-WWF) towards the goal of achieving 100% deforestation and conversion-free (DCF) leather.

This year, LWG plans to have its roadmap for deforestation well-defined by working with its two partners and the LWG Traceability Working Group. Important due diligence parameters have been established so that supply chains can trace their raw material right back to the farm or ranch.

New projects have been agreed with NWF-WWF to assemble the necessary information on the ground in terms of transparency and traceability of raw materials. As deforestation issues are complex, LWG is also seeking to collaborate and share data with the beef working group of the Consumer Goods Forum, and so consolidate data from multiple sources and so set achievable, realistic goals.

The brands with which LWG works will also be able to assess their own supply chain risk and transparency. This is strengthened by LWG’s certification programme which provides an in-depth audit of the leather making process.

In conjunction with WWF, LWG is active is South America and is collaborating with important tanneries in the region so that supply chain transparency and sourcing traceability can be verified. All due diligence, from farm to finished product will have to be assembled so as to have complete transparency and traceability to complete the roadmap of the leather pipeline.